The Book of Form and Emptiness

Benny returns home to find that Annabelle has cleaned the kitchen, remembered to buy milk, and is preparing spaghetti for dinner. She is wearing an apron that Benny and Kenji picked out for her that says, “This is What Awesome Looks Like!” (204). Benny remembers how Kenji struggled to pronounce the word “awesome,” which became a family joke. While setting the table for dinner, Benny becomes irritated by Annabelle’s cheerful mood and her insistence on bringing up the teapot song she used to sing to him as a child in honor of the new teapot she bought at the thrift store.

Benny can hear the voice of the teapot and knows that it is not singing that song. He shouts at Annabelle that the teapot is not saying what she’s pretending it says and runs out the back door, hearing the sound of broken pottery as he leaves.

Benny runs down the alleyway. He remembers when Kenji used to bring him to the harbor to watch the container ships coming and going, and they would try to guess what was being transported inside them. Eventually, the alley leads him to a small park he remembers visiting with Kenji as a child.